Day 419

March 3, 2013

Hello All,

We are starting a library in Loma Bonita!! There are no parks or public areas, no soccer fields or playgrounds in the community. Kids drive their parents and the teachers crazy after school looking for stuff to do. There have even been incidents in the past with kids getting hit by cars or causing accidents playing too close to the highway, so I want to start a library/after school play space.

We are all very excited about the coming library. After much discussion, we have decided to put the library in the school, where it can be used by teachers and students during the day, and hopefully by the rest of the community in the afternoons and evenings. We're looking for help everywhere, local elected officials, the Ministry of Education, libraries in Dekalb County; we've been pretty lucking so far. We are hoping to put books, games, art supplies, computers, a TV and DVD player in the library. I want this space to be a place for kids to play and also a place where we can have community activities for everyone; movie nights, technology classes, homework help, resource center.

When I first started talking about starting a library, no one showed too much interest. I realized nobody knew what I was talking about; there are no libraries in the area. So, I brought some books and board games that I bought at the thrift store back down with me after New Years. I opened up a 'mini' library on my front porch and invited all the kids to play. Well, the idea has since taken off. I have between 5- 15 kids at my house everyday playing memory, jenga, uno and putting together puzzles. I had to put open and closing times on the library, and all the kids show up running everyday at 3pm. One day, I was 20 minutes late. I had gone to the Regional Office of the Ministry of Education to talk with the Regional Director, and the bus dropped me off at the bus stop at 3:23. The kids spotted me from the top of the hill and came running, "Beth is here!" I didn't make it to my house before I was trailed by a cloud of library patrons. The 'mini' library has provided me with a good opportunity to teach the kids how to use a library. How to turn the pages of a book; to wash one's hands before playing; to put one game up before starting the next. They have also learned that the Gringa can kick some butt in jenga.

We're just starting the project, getting the community excited, looking for support, applying for grant money. I am really excited about this project. I hope that it will be something that the community can use for years and years. I'll keep everyone posted!

Other updates:
Another Iguana laid her eggs: 27 eggs this time. Still waiting on 6 others.

I passed the firefighter inspection and have been told that people will start connecting the houses this week (what's that saying about fool me once, fool me twice? I don't know if i'm being hopefully or just pathetic).

The new volunteer group is here, and a volunteer will be coming out to stay with my for a couple of days to see how volunteer life is.

There was a roadblock today (3/4/13). This is Panamanians' main way of protesting. They block off a road, the Interamerican highway in this case, and wait for a government official to come out and chat. My community wasn't running this block, but it was in the community. The highway, only road on this side of the country, was completely blocked for 6ish hours. You an see some of the traffic in the pictures.